


The Layers of Pearl

by lightningrani



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Spoilers for Back to the Barn, messed up world dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4961410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningrani/pseuds/lightningrani
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Pearl grew from her roots to where she is now. Spoilers for Back to the Barn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Layers of Pearl

**Author's Note:**

> In other news, the newest episode messed me up.

She remembered the day she was picked. Every Pearl does. It was the true date of her birth, when she was finally allowed to reach her true potential.

She remembers the smile on the woman's face, a ray of happiness in her world. All Pearls knew of the horror stories, of the masters who hurt them, who treated them like they were simply mindless rocks, who could be treated with less care than an inanimate object. They weren't supposed to know about that, of course-what kind of people would their teachers be, to make them fear the world? 

But, try as they might, they could never extinguish the spark of intelligence buried inside their gem. So they whispered stories and tales to each other, and they learned.

This Pearl knew that her life would be great. It would be filled with happiness. Everything would be alright.

**

Her master was sent to another planet, assigned a mission by their superiors. There was something they needed to do, to ensure the survival of the Homeworld. Pearl didn't need to know anything other than that-why would she? She was a Pearl, and the only things she needed to know was what her master told her.

**

It fell apart. It all fell apart.

Her master-no, Rose-shouldn't be doing this. She can't be doing this. They were given one job, one reason to come to this planet. And who were they to disrupt the plan, disrupt the order given to them by Homeworld? She was a Pearl. Pearls didn't do that. Pearls simply followed orders.

Much like Quartzes came from Earth. And yet, look at Rose now.

What was she, then, if that order didn't exist anymore? What was her life if she didn't have a master to follow? No, she had something. There was something she could do.

Even if Rose was a Quartz now, she could still be her master. She would follow her to the ends of the universe.

**

There was little for a servant to do in a middle of a war. Everyone was fending for themselves, and any idle hands were sent to work. 

She could not leave her master behind. Compared to Rose, why, her life was meaningless. But neither could she simply enter the battlefield without anything to defend herself. She may be a Pearl, but she was intelligent enough to know that.

So she spent her free time watching other Gems fight, seeing how they reached for their weapons, seeing how they moved. And she learned, slowly. She learned through experience and through death. And she changed.

Oh gods did she change.

**

Sometimes she would remember the other Pearls which she knew, back on Homeworld. She remembered how they puttered about, following orders.

None of them could fight like her. None of them were her.

And yet, she was a Pearl, and weren't all Pearls the same?

Maybe... maybe, if they were here, they would become like her. Maybe it was just Homeworld that made everyone alike.

She shoved that thought into the back of her mind. Homeworld was wrong. She already knew that already. She didn't need to think about what else they failed at doing.

(If Gems could dream, she would have dreamt of Pearls fighting in wars, or captaining ships, or being in more jobs than Homeworld could ever imagine. She would have dreamt of all the futures that were taken away from them.)

(But Gems don't dream, and Pearls were always good at ignoring things which they didn't want to think about)

**

What was Rose doing, talking to this man, loving this human being? Did she forget who her true family was?

Did she forget what they all gave up to be here? Did she forget what Pearl gave up to be here?

And now she was throwing all that away for HIM?

No. She needed to be strong. She needed to be better than a needy Pearl, who was lost without her master. She could move on. She would move on. Everything would be better.

After all, Rose would always still be here. Even if this human became a permanent thing-unlike the others-Rose would always come back. She always did. There was no way she could ever leave them, after all. 

**

She stared blankly at the mewling bundle in front of her. Rose was gone. How could she do that to them? How could she do that to her?

And in her place, she left this... thing? 

Carefully she pushed down the blanket, seeing the gleaming pink Gem which she knew all too well.

This being wasn't Rose. It couldn't be Rose. But she could still do her job, in the end. She could still serve him, in whatever ways she could.

**

"You're just a Pearl!"

Just a Pearl?

Like being a Pearl was a bad thing. Like being a Pearl meant nothing.

This Peridot knew nothing of what she had did to get to this point. What she gave up. What she forced herself to learn.

And now to insult her by throwing her identity back into her face, like it was a slur?

"That's right! I am a Pearl!"

Punching her in the face was very satisfying.

**

After all this, after it was all done, she stood beneath the stars, looking up.

She remembered how Steven looked up to her, his eyes glittering like stars. The whole world could revolve around her, sometimes.

That was not how you looked at a Pearl.

She remembered how everyone hugged her, congratulated her, for what she had did, even if Peridot had beaten her robot into smithereens. 

That was not how you treated a Pearl.

She remembered how Peridot, for all her disdain, listened to her and followed her lead as they worked on the drill.

That was not what a Pearl did.

But she was a Pearl. She was like all those servants back on Homeworld. She could have still been there.

She looked down at her hands. How much things had changed. A sword to hold, a world to fight for... this was the path that she had chosen for herself.

She chuckled to herself. Strange. A Pearl making her own decision. Now that would have shocked Homeworld. 

But that didn't mean she wasn't a Pearl. A Pearl was loyal, and here she was. A Pearl was hardworking, and here she was. A Pearl was organized, and here she was.

Yes, somedays she picked up a sword or a wrench, and sometimes she fought monsters. But what did that really mean, in the end?

A Pearl is a Pearl is a Pearl. Yes. And no one could take that away from her.

 


End file.
